BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

13/04/2008

Belarus Dump Becomes Mass Grave for Jewish Bones

(IsraelNN.com) Belarus construction workers have begun to discard the bones of long-deceased Jews in the Gomel city dump as they carry out reconstruction on one of four municipal stadiums built on top of Jewish cemeteries around the country. The Jewish community, which began to trickle into the city of Gomel in the 16th century CE, once comprised more than half of the population and numbered some 40,000 souls. Only a few thousand remain.

Gomel Jewish community leader Vladimir Gershanok told the Associated Press that he had asked the builders to at least put the bones into sacks so they might be reburied at a cemetery that has a monument to Holocaust victims. The city approved construction despite discovery of the bones because the remains were more than 50 years old.

According to 38-year-old Oleg Korzhuyev, one of the few Jews who remain and who lives near the construction site, the workers are less than enthusiastic about digging up human bones -- but 'if they find a gold tooth then it's a real celebration.'

Source:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/144866

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